If Things Had Been Different
by emmals16
Summary: With a rapid turn of events, the Strawhat Pirates find themselves in a world two years earlier in which Luffy had never met Shanks and had never went out into the world with his dream to become Pirate King. ONE HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
1. Chapter 1 The Mysterious Island

**I have had some random ideas going through my head about this story and I sort of just blended them all into this in a way that is hopefully, at least sort of, attractive.**

 **I hope you all enjoy! Please let me know what you think so I can think about if I should continue or not.**

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The seafoam-green haired swordsman was doing as he normally did that day. He practiced with giant weights as Sanji yelled at Luffy for breaking into the fridge once again.

"You shitty captain. When will you learn that the rest of us do in fact have stomachs too." The blond cook angrily questioned the teen captain.

Zoro laughed to himself. Some things didn't change over the two years separated from everyone.

Luffy must've tried to play off that he didn't do it because suddenly there was a crashing on deck. Zoro peeked over the railing to see that Sanji had kicked Luffy in the face like he usually did in this sort of situation with him.

Zoro sighed. It was a good thing Luffy had his Gomu Gomu no Mi devil fruit. If he didn't he was sure that Sanji would've killed him by now.

"Oi, Nami!" Luffy yelled as he recovered from Sanji's inhuman kick.

"What is it?" The red haired navigator yelled back with an aggravated tone.

"Are we near an island?"

Nami sighed and checked the map that was lying next to her. It took her a second to search the map for any nearby islands.

"It should be about another day's journey until we're near any other islands." She called down to him.

He pouted as he looked over the railing towards the ocean. The swordsman set down his weights and made his way down to the deck with the rest of his crew. Something caught his eye over near the horizon. It was a rock formation.

"Oi, Nami" he called to the navigator that had gone back to reading a newspaper.

She stood and leaned over the railing, "What is it!?"

Zoro pointed off towards the formation of rocks, "What is that then?"

The red head followed his gesture and gazed at the formation. A look of confusion crossed her face. Zoro grew nervous at her expression. Normally Nami knew exactly where they were headed. She knew the islands that were around them as they sailed through the grand line. Even if they were in the middle of a storm she would know where to head so that they could get out of it. But, the expression that shown on her face was that of complete and utter confusion.

"Nami-swan, are you alright?" The shitty cook asked from where he stood in the deck.

"That doesn't make sense . . ." she muttered to herself as she went to get something. Nami came back to the railing with rolls of maps and started scavenging through them, "None of my maps have a recorded record of there being an island there!"

Brook, Franky, Chopper, Usopp, and Robin were now looking at the rock formation. They were attempting to figure out what the formation could be if not an island.

"Perhaps we've found an undiscovered island . . ." Robin offered as an explanation.

"If that's the case then maybe we should go explore it!" Luffy called to her. Of course he would want to explore an island. They'd been sailing for two whole days.

"Luffy's right" Sanji surprisingly agreed, "If this is in fact an undiscovered island then we should go map it out."

This caught the navigators attention. A map of the world would need every island on it. She couldn't just pass by this island and wipe it out of her mind like it never happened. She couldn't live with herself if that happened.

"Alright, but how do we know how to prepare?" Nami asked as she made her way down to the deck.

"We'll prepare the way we always prepare." Zoro told her.

"And how's that?"

"By not really preparing for anything." He replied with a smirk.

And with that the Strawhat pirates made their way to the unknown island. As they approached they noted that it looked like a normal forest covered island. It wasn't like Little Garden in the way that there were no giant wild animals seeking to kill and eat them. It wasn't like Drum Island because there were no huge mountains. It looked more like Usopp's home island of Syrup Village. Just without any villages.

"It doesn't look that exciting . . ." Luffy disappointedly noted as he stepped off the Sunny.

"We haven't even stepped two feet on it and you're already being opinionated!" Sanji yelled as he helped Nami and Robin off of the ship.

"I'm going to go ahead!" Their captain called to them as he zoomed into the forest.

"Luffy! Wait up!" Chopper cried as he stepped onto the beach. But, it was too late. He was already too far into the forest to hear them.

"That idiot." Sanji mumbled.

The group left the ship with Franky and Brook to look after it as they explored the island. Zoro went searching for Luffy along with Nami so he wouldn't get lost. Sanji had gone with Robin and Chopper.

"Where could he have gone?" Nami asked herself. She knew her captain was into adventuring and all, but this was ridiculous. This island wasn't even on any sort of map she had. Something didn't smell right and she didn't like it.

"Oi, there's something up ahead."

The words from Zoro snapped her out of her nervous thoughts. She examined the area ahead of them. Large stone formations could be seen through the trees.

The two of them rushed forward. What they saw was what looked like ancient ruins.

"Oi, guys!" They heard. Slowly out of one of the tunnels that were part of the ruins someone emerged.

"Luffy?" They asked in unison.

"Yeah, isn't this cool?" He said with much enthusiasm as he looked behind him into the tunnel he emerged from.

"Oh, and look at this thing. I thought you might like it since it's gold, Nami." He held up a golden sphere that had a few gems sticking out of it, "It has some weird writing on it though."

The captain tossed it to his navigator. She caught it and her eyes immediately shot out of her head. It was so heavy. This was definitely solid gold. It wasn't hollowed out or anything. It could be worth millions of belli. She rolled it around in her hands. Luffy had said that there had been weird writing on it.

She saw it and said it to herself,"Vertuntur metae tangendo vitæ . . . what the hell does that mean?"

She looked up at her captain, "Luffy, I have no idea what this means, it's like a different language or something."

Her captain just shrugged.

That was when the group heard something. It sounded like crashing. It was off towards the distance.

"Did we get followed by marines or something?" Nami yelled. The other two didn't know any more than she did. Though, they were pretty sure that that was the case. Luffy jumped down to join Nami and the swordsman. Once he did the group of three immediately started running off towards where they came from. That was where the loud, thundering, noises were coming from.

The noises grew louder and louder as they approached the beach until finally they broke through the trees.


	2. Chapter 2 The Mysterious Island pt 2

**I made this part two since the next chapter will begin the actual summary of the story.**

 **A some what lot of drama happened this chapter. I'm not quite sure if it was done well . . .hopefully!**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

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Once they broke through the trees they were greeted by blinding sunlight. They covered their eyes with their hands for shade until their vision adjusted.

Just as they had thought. Two marine ships had docked near the island and were firing at the Thousands Sunny. A small boat was coming to shore as cannon balls fired between the three ships including their own.

The small boat seemed to have the fleet's commander on it. He was a tall, muscular man with a marine jacket lying on top of his shoulders. He had long black hair that streamed down his back and a patch of hair right underneath his lower lip. The expression on his face showed total relaxation. A bit unnerving in the trio's opinion.

"Oi, you be Strawhat Luffy correct?" The marine commander asked as he stepped onto the sandy beach.

Luffy hesitated before going on, "Yeah, who's asking?"

The man smiled, "I am Commander Alios. One of the Fleet Commanders that have been specifically chosen by Fleet Admiral Akainu."

At those words Zoro and Nami saw Luffy move uneasily in his place.

"I guess that explains why you found us. He probably has you hunting us down." Luffy said.

The Fleet Commander chuckled evilly, " Aye, that is correct. It seems to be our luck we found you as all of your crew were separated on a remote island." Alios gleamed around at the surrounding forest, "I have to thank you as well, you seem to have stumbled upon an island we've been looking for for quite a while."

"I take it you expect us to ask why you were looking for such an island?" Nami asked the Fleet Commander with disgust.

Alios looked at the red haired girl, "Not really. I think it's about time I eliminate you. Your warrant says dead or alive after all."

With that the admiral motioned for the few troops he had left to fire at the group.

Luffy smiled at himself as he shielded Zoro and Nami behind him from the rain of bullets. He flung them back at the group forcing them to run away so they didn't get hit by the bullets.

"I heard you had that ability Strawhat. You are a paramecia type user after all." The Fleet Commander told Luffy with amusement.

Zoro ran passed his captain and began attacking the troops. He took them out easily. Once he was finished he ran straight for the Fleet Commander.

"Lion's Song!" The swordsman called as he attacked Alios.

Instead of finishing the attack the Fleet Commander did something. He quickly placed his four-finger on Zoro's head.

The swordsman dropped to the ground with a thud.

"I am a user of the Aku Aku no mi. I can give people visions from their nightmares. Or simply bring back images of their past." Alios explained.

Luffy stared in horror at his first mate. Zoro was holding both his hands against his head as if he was trying to break his skull.

The vision that the Fleet Commander had forced Zoro to experience was that of his childhood friend's death. How his rival Kuina died.

Luffy suddenly charged toward Alios, "Knock it off you bastard!" He yelled as he put armament haki on his arms. He punched the Fleet Commander straight in the gut sending his back a few meters.

Fleet Commander Alios had a mocking grin on his face,"There, now a proper duel with the renown captain Strawhat Luffy."

Luffy smiled as he rushed forward once again punching at Alios. Alios punched at Luffy simultaneously resulting in them punching each others fist.

They were eye to eye gleaming at each other with both interest and the serious look of battle.

The two jumped back. Luffy quickly put himself into second gear. Then he rushed back towards the Commander.

Just as Alios had done with Zoro, he stuck his hand out and tapped Luffy on the forehead.

The young captain stopped his attack and skidded across the ground due to the speed he was charging the Commander at.

"Luffy!" Nami yelled as she pulled her Bo Staff out ready to attack as the the others had. She looked at Alios, but was confused when she saw him bent over reaching for something in the sand.

The red head focused on the object in the sand and realized that it was the golden sphere Luffy had found in the ruins.

"It seems that now only did you lead me to the island we were looking for, Strawhat" the Fleet Commander called the the captain who was now struggling to stand, "but, you also found the object we were searching for."

Alios held the golden sphere in his hand studying it. It seems he was too in debth with his studying though since Luffy suddenly snatched the sphere out of his hands.

"Hey now, you lost this." The Fleet Commander told him as he took a step toward Luffy, "Now give it here."

Luffy was still being affected by Alios' devil fruit. The sick Fleet Commander had made Luffy's nightmare be when Ace was killed right in front of him. It was taking all of his strength just to stay upright and sane.

Alios could tell that the captain was still being affected. He was impressed at the boy's stubbornness. Usually when the Fleet Commander used his ability as bad as he could it resulted in his victim going into a fit of insanity. But, this kid, he was truly something else. Standing and fighting even with his worst memory playing repeatedly in his head over and over again. Truly amazing.

"How do you do it?" Alios mumbled not really seeking an answer.

"The thing is . . ." Luffy began, "I've already accepted it. I've accepted I can't change it."

The Fleet Commander gazed at the brunette in front of him. So, that was his trick. He turned his attention to the green haired swordsman behind him who was trying to stand.

"If that is so . . ." Alios grabbed a gun from his waist, "then you should prepare yourself to accept that you can't change this either."

With that said he aimed the gun directly at Zoro. Luffy felt a knot build in his throat. Behind him he could hear Sanji, Robin, and Chopper running towards them.

"Oi, shitty captain!" Sanji called, "What's going on?!"

But Luffy didn't answer. He sped off towards Zoro and the Fleet Commander. He had no fear as he jumped in front of the bullets that came flying out.

Nami was watching without any fear at all. This always happened. Luffy was like the perfect bullet proof vest that protected each and every one of them when they needed it. But, then she noticed something unordinary.

Luffy swayed in place. The bullets weren't flinging back towards the Fleet Commander. Instead he fell backwards.

"Luffy!" Zoro cried snapping out of his torturing memory as he caught his captain.

Zoro cradled his captain in the crook of his elbow. He looked at Luffy with wide eyes as small blood puddles bled through his long sleeved vest. His captain coughed with blood spraying onto his lips. What the hell happened? Confusion flooded the swordsman's mind. Luffy never got hurt by bullets so why now?

"What did you do?" The swordsman growled up towards Alios.

The Fleet Commander gave a maniacal grin, "It's a new invention made by scientists for marines dealing with devil fruit users." Alios held the gun up higher so he could examine it, "Seastone bullets."

Zoro's eyes grew wide. That couldn't be! The marines now had a gun that could be used against logia type users. Just like his captain.

Nami rushed toward her comrades as Sanji, Chopper, and Robin occupied Alios. She fell to her knees on the right side of Zoro. Luffy's breathing was ragged and his eyes were tightly closed with creased eyebrows.

"Zoro." She said to the swordsman to catch his attention, "I got Luffy, you go take care of that bastard."

He looked at her surprised and then, with much hesitation slowly moved Luffy's head off of his elbow and onto her lap. He then ran off towards the others to join the battle.

"Luffy, you're gonna be okay . . . okay?" Nami asked hoping that he would just open his eyes and start bounding around with his usual wide grin and endless energy. But he didn't. The red head brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

Those bullets the Fleet Commander wouldn't just pierce Luffy's skin. They were seastone. They would drain his energy and devil fruit ability as well as damage his body.

Nami began to tear up as she thought more in depth about it. Something in Luffy's grasp caught her attention. She moved his hand. The redhead gasped. Luffy was still holding onto the golden sphere. Why? Was he trying to keep it away from the Fleet Commander? He had said he found it and gave it to Nami. Was he keeping it safe for her?

Nami was snapped out of her thoughts by a horrifying realization. Luffy wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing.

"Luffy?" She mumbled to herself. It was as though she couldn't believe what she was experiencing. The redhead immediately bent her head over and placed her head on his chest. She listened. She searched. But there was none. His heartbeat wasn't there anymore.

Nami jerked upward.

"He's not breathing, Chopper!" She screamed over to the reindeer that was fighting the Fleet Commander. All of her comrades snapped their heads over to her in disbelief.

Zoro immediately attacked Alios with all of his might. All of his anger flooding into his attacks.

"Chopper, go help Luffy and Nami!" Sanji ordered even forgetting to add "swan" to the end of Nami's name.

The blue nosed reindeer sped off towards his captain and navigator. He skidded to a stop to take Luffy's pulse when he got close enough. His eyes widened with the realization of what was happening.

"He's . . . " the youngest member of the crew mumbled with tears in his eyes, "he's dead!"

Nami froze at this statement. That couldn't be. Luffy couldn't be dead! She started to shake her captain's body back and forth as though it would wake him up. But, all it accomplished was for the golden sphere to slip from Luffy's grasp and roll towards the ocean.

It rolled until it hit the water.

The navigator and doctor were now both crying in unison over their captain's body. The rest of the crew were still battling the marines. Zoro was successfully wounding the Fleet Commander.

But all went still when something happened. All the water drew back from the beach leaving the Thousands Sunny crashing onto solid ground.

All of the Strawhat pirates stared as a giant wave began to form. It began to form and it began to come towards the island. The wave towered over everyone. And as the wave crashed down Nami attempted to shield Luffy and Chopper from it. But, it was to no avail.

The wave washed everyone away.

And all was silent.


	3. Chapter 3 (Confusion)

**Okay! I'm really giving this fanfic a shot! I've been wanting to do a long One Piece fan fiction for quite a while and I'm hop in this one can be finished by me with good spirits.**

 **In any case, I thank all of you who had reviewed,favorited, or followed my story for the first two chapters. I always love seeing how other people feel about my stories.**

 **Enough of my blabbering,here's chapter 3!**

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 **Nami**

Something hard was pressed against her face. She knew not what it was, but the feeling was quite familiar to her. On long days that she used working on her maps she would end up passing out on the table her map was resting on. This was that same sensation. The thing was, it didn't make sense.

The events that had happened previously were a haze. Her mind tried gripped to those memories as hard as it could. They were on the beach being attacked by a squadron of Marines that had followed them. Luffy and Zoro had tried to attack them, but inevitably failed. Then Luffy . . . he . . . he . . .

The redhead jumped up from where her face was implanted on the table and immediately gazed around at her surroundings trying to wrap her brain around what had happened and where she was. But, instead of finding answers, she was met with even more confusion.

Nami's eyes went wild when she found herself back in her room of horrors. Back in the room she had spent hours in during her youth and all the way up to before she met Luffy and the others. Back inside Arlong Park.

"Wha-what the hell?" She whispered to herself quietly. This couldn't be real. Luffy had dealt with Arlong and freed her island years ago. Why the hell was the building still standing with all of her dreaded maps hanging around her? Even with all those questions, how the hell did she even get there in the first place?

Nami stood from the stool that she stiffly sat upon not even bothering to stretch in the process. A feeling of dread continued to hang over her. The last thing she saw was a giant wave washing away herself and a supposedly dead Luffy. She imagined the others as well.

The redhead silently rushed towards the door. Whatever was going on, she still had to get out of this building. The door creaked open and she slid herself in between the small space she made.

Everything was the same as her darkest memories remembered. Nami quickly walked down the hallway trying not to make any eye contact with anything on the walls. But, perhaps she should've been watching ahead of her instead of the ground. She felt herself run into something hard and sturdy. The redhead imagined that it was a wall. But, as she gleamed up her eyes became wide with horror.

"Ah, Nami. I was just coming to check on your progress with the most current map you promised me." The tall merman told her.

"A-A-Arlong?" She stuttered in shock.

 **Sanji**

He was awoken with a sudden jerk of his head and body. She blond haired man hadn't even realised that he was sleeping. His eyes slowly opened to reveal a sapphire sky. It looked like a perfect day.

But, even with all the positives around him something wasn't quite settling right with him. What was it? A new question sprang up into his mind.

Where was he?

And along with that; What happened?

Sanji sat up from his awkward position. He examined his surroundings and was quite confused when he noticed that he was inside of a small row boat. The jerk that had awoken him was the force of him being pushed onto the shore of the beach. What the hell was he doing here?

All at once the memories of the current events flooded into his mind. The attack on the Thousand Sunny, Nami-swan cradling an unconscious and wounded Luffy, and then the completely random tsunami-like wave.

The blond chef jumped out of the small boat and stood upon the sand. Was this the same beach that they had been attacked on? No, this island looked nothing like that island. But, even so, this island had a familiar essence to it. He had been here before.

Sanji wasn't too concerned about what type of island he was on or what the hell had happened to him he was concerned about the others. He was concerned about Nami-san and Robin-chan.

Where were they? Sanji immediately made his way up the beach. Perhaps there was a better place to examine the surrounding area. Or perhaps he would end up finding someone.

As he came to the top of the hill the blond chef noticed what looked like building tops. Roofs of a town. This definitely wasn't the same island they were on when the tsunami hit. That place was a god-forsaken uninhabited forest. Nothing more nothing less.

Sanji finally got a good look at the town. He had thought the town looked familiar and that was when it hit him. This was Nami-san's hometown. Except instead of the happy go lucky mood it was in when they left for their next adventure along with Nami-san so long ago, it was now in tattered ruins. Buildings were crumbling down to the ground. Only a few were still in good enough shape that the blond chef could even imagine that someone may be desperate enough to live in it.

Without a second thought Sanji dashed toward the town. Nami-swan or Robin-chwan might be there. And if not Nami's sister, Nojiko-san, would most-likely be. If they were in trouble or even one of them he would help them without a second glance. This was his time to be the hero for all of them.

Sanji had made it to the streets and began looking around. He didn't understand what could've happened. When they left the town, it had been in better shape than the many years before. Now it looked as though someone had decided they would use it for cannon practice.

As the blond turned the corner he felt something slam into his face . . . hard.

And just like a lightbulb out of juice he was out.

 **Nami**

This can't be real the redhead kept repeating over and over again in her head. Arlong was flicked away along with his whole crew by Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji two years ago. There was no way in hell that Arlong could be standing tall right in front of her like he owned her once again.

"What's wrong? Why is it that you're stalking around the hallways?" Arlong asked Nami with his usual menacing tone.

"I-I was just . . ." Nami didn't quite know what to say. She wasn't use to pretending to being loyal with anyone. Her loyalty to Luffy and the others was true. Her loyalty to Arlong never was.

"It does not matter I suppose, but I will have you know that I will be checking on my expected map by tonight." And with that he walked right passed her without a second glance. Nami was stiff throughout her body. She was cold and not breathing. It was only when she could no longer hear his footsteps that she remembered that she did in fact need oxygen and breathed in a gasp of air.

Nami felt a pressing need to get out of the building as fast as she could. No . . . faster than she could. The redhead sprinted down the rest of the hallway and all the way out of Arlong park. With heavy heaving of air she set her course toward her village.

 **Sanji**

His eyes snapped open and he flung himself into a sitting position. Had he seriously just been knocked out? He gazed around at his surroundings for the second time that day in confusion.

"You needn't worry." A slightly familiar voice informed him, "I'm not gonna hurt ya. I was just trying to get you off the street without too much fuss."

Sanji turned to face the beholder of the lovely voice. It was just who he expected, Nojiko. He was glad to see a familiar face through all the confusion he had been experiencing so far that day. But, something about her was different. Just like how the town was destroyed and broken, Nojiko herself looked broken. Heavy bags had shaded under her eyes and her eyes themselves looked tired and almost . . . dead-like.

"Nojiko-san?" Sanji questioned. It wasn't because he didn't know whether or not it was her. It was to clarify whether or not she was okay.

Nojiko cocked her head to the side, "Have we met?"

Sanji's stomach dropped. He gripped the bed covers that Nojiko wrapped around him. Perhaps he had remembered her but had she perhaps forgotten him? Sanji hoped that she hadn't forgotten who Luffy was, after all he had ended Arlong. But, then again the condition of the town wasn't as great as it had been. What could have happened? Nothing was making any sense whatsoever.

Just then someone burst in through the door. A blob of orange hair covered their face as they gasped attempting to catch their breath. A huge weight was yanked off of Sanji's shoulders at the sight of them.

"Nami~swan!" Sanji exclaimed, relief flooding through him.

The navigator looked up. It was then that the blond cook noticed her tear stained cheeks. She'd been crying?

"Nami-san, are you okay?" Sanji asked as he stood and rushed to her side. For an answer he was surprised to receive a strong hug. It was as though she expected him to just float away.

"What the hell is happening?" She asked not even above a whisper as she gripped the back of his shirt, "Why the hell is Arlong alive? Why is my village like this? Where is everyone?!"

Sanji could feel Nami shaking as she spoke every one of those words. Arlong was alive? But Luffy had put an end to him! If he wasn't dead he was sure wishing he was. That would explain why the town was in tattered ruins. Arlong must've did what he did to that town with all the upside buildings they had seen when they had first stepped foot of the island two years ago. This was a mess.

"Hey there, sis." Nojiko said from behind them. Nami had apparently not even seen her sitting there. With just as much enthusiasm, the redhead wrapped her blued haired sister into a suffocating yet loving hug.

"What happened to the town, Nojiko?" Nami finally said when she calmed down enough.

Nojiko looked her in the eye with a confused expression, "How don't you know?" Nojiko said with a slight smile as though what Nami was asking was somehow a sick joke, "You're the one who was taking it the hardest after all."

When Nami didn't say anything in response Nojiko continued with a sigh, " Arlong had warned us that if we tried to attack his crew he was gonna destroy the town. I guess we shouldn't have expected any other outcome. Even after all this . . . he still collects taxes from us in order for us to live."

"So . . . so Luffy really never . . ." Nami didn't know how to finish it. How had this happened? She had continuously asked herself that, but that was the most pristine question there was. Nothing was making any sense and she wanted to know why.

As though another force made her, Nami gleamed down at her upper arm. A knot caught in her throat. Instead of her tattoo of a pinwheel and tangerine there was Arlong's marking. She put her hand to her gaping mouth. Tears were threatening to spill.

Nami decided to completely dodge trying to go anywhere with that conversation and through threatening tears she continued to a different topic, " Sanji-kun, have you seen anyone else by any chance here on the island?"

Sanji gulped. He hadn't. Deep down, underneath his desire to find Nami-san, Nojiko-san, and Robin-chan, the blond cook had hoped that he would run into Luffy, Usopp, Franky, Brook, or even the marimo at this point. But, even with that hidden hope, he hadn't seen anyone else.

"No, as far as I know we're here alone."

* * *

 **Okay! That's it for ya! Please leave a review. I love getting feedback whether or not it's negative or possitive (though who really likes getting negative feedback)?**

 **Chapter 4 is already in the works!**


	4. Chapter 4 (Red)

**Oooooookaaaaay!**

 **Hello again dear readers! Sorry it took so long (Not sure if it felt long to any of you, but I meant to pit this up about a week ago)**

 **Anyways, I'm so happy with the reviews and the amount of favorites and follows! It sure was more than I had expected! Thank you all!**

 **No then, please, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Usopp**

The sniper awoke in what felt like a cushiony bed. After sleeping in hammocks for so long he had forgotten just how great a bed felt. He opened his eyes to see a window on the opposite side of the room. Sun poured in through the curtains. Usopp smiled at the sight. It was beautiful morning. The sniper sat up slowly in no rush whatsoever. His bare feet met the wooden floor as he stood.

Usopp took in a deep breath as he looked around and sighed it out with a smile.

That was when it hit him.

"Where am I?!"

The sniper immediately grabbed his shoes which were thrown in the corner and put them on as he made his way out of the room. The door slammed open and hit the wall with much force as he stumbled out of the room.

His crew weren't anywhere to be seen. Last thing that happened was a giant wave crashing into him and everyone else, which had scared the living- . . . had not even scared him the least bit. And Luffy . . . the sniper gulped at the thought of him. If he needed help right now Usopp needed to find him. What Chopper had said couldn't be true . . . could it?

Usopp scurried through the hallway and all the way down the stairs. He inferred it was some sort of inn. The marines must've taken him thinking he was the co-captain or something and was now keeping him hostage. No fret though for the great Captain Usopp would *quiver* get away safely and get back to his most likely fearful crew.

As Usopp got down the stairs and opened the door at the bottom. He was met with loud laughter and the smell of alcohol. He saw many men scattered across the floor looking dead, but were merely fast asleep.

"Oi, Usopp. Finally decided to join the land of the living!" Someone called across the room. Usopp desperately searched for that voice. But, with all the people scattered everywhere it was a lost cause.

Then someone stood up in the corner. Usopp felt his heart stop at the familiarity of the man. The way he carried himself (and his gun) as he walked over to him.

Usopp couldn't force himself to even open his mouth. Shock was absorbing every bit of his wellbeing. His eyes hung wide open as he watched the figure get closer and closer to him.

"Sounds like you made quite a ruckus upstairs too . . . what's wrong you look like you've seen a ghost?"

Usopp finally felt his mouth open on command.

"D-dad?"

 **Nami** and Sanji

The navigator found comfort in burying her face in Sanji's chest. And the cook apparently didn't mind it either. His own anger filling his body. How dare they do this to Nami-Swan! The thing was, the blond was unsure to what exactly he should do. He didn't even know what was going on!

Suddenly the Navigator peered up at Sanji and choked out, "W-we need to find the others! Right now!"

The cook didn't disagree in the slightest. He needed to know that Robin-chan, stupid marimo, shitty captain, and everyone else were alright . . . even if he didn't want to admit it about Zoro.

The navigator then looked at her sister as though she had just then noticed her there. They locked eyes for a few seconds before Nami broke the silence.

"Nojiko . . . what the hell happened here?" Nami said trying to hold back her tears. The navigator finally let go of the cook much to Sanji's disappointment.

Nojiko straightened a bit as though she wasn't sure what Nami meant, "What? You mean . . . how can't you know?"

"I-I don't know . . . I'm sorry." was what the navigator managed to stutter.

Nojiko rubbed the back of her neck as she stared at the floor boards in a trance of thought. Whatever had happened must have been pretty traumatising based on the condition of the village. The two Strawhats hadn't even noticed any people walking around.

"It happened after your stash of beli was taken by those traitorous marines who were in cahoots with Arlong."

Nami remembered that man. The way he had his men slash at Bellemere-san's tangerine garden in their frenzy to find her cash.

Nojiko continued with a sigh as though very far away,"You had worked so hard for that money. You worked years and years. Years you would never get back. The townspeople knew this and decided in a desperate attempt to free you from Arlong, to attack him."

So far, everything was sounding quite like what she remembered happening.

Nojiko's voice turned to venom suddenly, "Arlong viciously attack most of the people. Killing many. Sooner or later we all fell back and dashed back to the town knowing that our attempts were futile."

The blue haired girl was now trembling as her memories swarmed in her mind, "Even though we had given up . . . they still destroyed the town and left us to die."

Nami had her hand to her mouth as she slide to the ground. Tears were pouring down her cheeks like rivers. What the hell? That didn't happen! They had left the island with everyone okay! People were cheering and crying for joy! There were celebrations! The only danger anyone was in was having Luffy eat everything they had!

"Wha-" Nami began in between sobs, "What about Luffy? He beat Arlong, right?"

Sanji who had stayed dangerously quiet throughout the whole story now looked curiously at Nami's sister. That was right. Luffy had beat the crap out of Arlong. That's how he freed Nami-san's village. What happened to that?

Instead of an answer they were met with another question. A question that made them chill right through the bone.

"Who's Luffy?"

 **Usopp**

"D-dad?" Usopp muttered to himself.

Yasopp raised a hand in a greeting-like way. He was here. His dad was here standing right in front of him.

And it was like it was completely normal!

"W-what are you doing here?" The sniper questioned trying to hold back his tears. He hadn't seen his dad . . . ever! Only in pictures that his mother had! And of course stories of how his father sailed away with Red Haired Shanks like a brave adventurer of the sea.

"What do you mean? We stopped by this inn last night." The older man explained as though he thought it was a joke.

Usopp, however, didn't remember that. He remembered a giant freaking wave that wiped out him and his entire crew. How did he get from that to a warm bed and his dad waiting for him.

An idea swam into the sniper's mind. What if this was some marine trick? Or maybe another pirate crew that was going to turn him into the marines? This "dad" in front of him could be the works of some type of Devil Fruit! They'd met dozens of Devil Fruit users. His captain was one for god sake!

Suddenly Yasopp in front of him took a step forward, "Hey, you feelin' okay?"

"Don't! Stay right there!" Usopp screeched as he reached around his back for his large slingshot, but found none.

The sniper looked up and locked eyes with his "dad". The older sniper had his hands up in a defensive and worry shine through his eyes. Also, something Usopp was just now noticing, sadness.

"Is the loud thud I heard earlier you head smacking against something?" He asked clearly not understanding what was happening.

The Strawhat felt something against his hanging hand. He immediately recognized the old familiarity. "What did you do with my crew?!" Usopp yelled as he held his old, small slingshot toward the man in front of him.

Before Yasopp could react there was a loud thud that came from the other side of the room.

Usopp jumped at the sudden loud sound and quickly aimed his slingshot in that direction. What he saw was not what he expected.

A straw hat with a red ribbon sat comfortably on the man's head who was standing on a chair and had just stomped on a table. It wasn't just a regular straw hat you may see around a town on some random person. This was his hat. His captain's hat. It was Strawhat Luffy's straw hat.

"What is with all the ruckus?!" The red haired man yelled, "Can't someone sleep without being woken up early?"

As the man looked up so that the sniper could see his face a cold chill ran down his spine.

This was red-haired Shanks. But, he still had Luffy's famous straw hat!

* * *

 **Dun Dun Duuuuuuuun!**

 **Tried making it dramatic :)**

 **I had a quick question for all of you hardcore fans out there. Did Luffy ever tell his crew about Shanks sacrificing his arm for him? I just can't seem to remember! If anyone can answer that for me it'll be of great help!**

 **Please review, follow, favorite! I always love reading your reviews be it praise for something or some spell checks or really anything! You can tell me yhe story sucks if you want!**

 **Though that's probably make me sad :(**

 **Anywho, see you all next time (figuratively)!**


	5. Chapter 5 (The Reason For Change)

**Hey all.**

 **Sorry it's been a while. Not quiet sure how long exactly, but sorry anyway.**

 **Anyway, thanks for all thereviews, they're what keep me writing and I love reading ideas I could possibly incorporate in later chapters.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Nami** **and** **Sanji**

Nojiko had just said something that sent both Nami and Sanji into a pit of confusion and coldness. What did she mean by "who's Luffy"? How could she forget him? But, then again, things weren't anywhere near how they had left them two years ago. Something was happening. Something neither of them liked.

"That doesn't matter now. All I know is that we need to find that idiot and the others." Sanji cut in walking towards the door. Suddenly he heard something. It sounded as though someone was approaching the house. The blond cook pulled one of the blinds down so he could look out the window. When he did he was met with the sight of several of Arlong's men approaching the shaggy house.

Sanji immediately dropped the blind and ducked down, "Nami-san, we need to get out of here. Some of Arlong's goons are coming."

Nami nervously looked over at her blue haired sister, "Nojiko, you should come with us." The red haired navigator wouldn't want her sister getting hurt because of her leaving. Arlong was probably looking for her and that was the reason why some of his men were coming here. They were going to ask Nojiko and if her sister gave them an answer they didn't like she imagined that they would be less than friendly towards her.

"Sorry, but I'm not leavin'" the blue haired girl said as she turned toward Sanji, "so, this is one of your friends eh?"

Nami quickly grabbed her sister's hand, "Yeah, he's my friend and I have a whole lot more of friends too, but we need to leave now, Nojiko." She turned toward the blond cook who was now sulking due to being 'friend zoned', " If you don't you're in danger here."

A knocking sounded on the door as Nojiko grabbed Sanji and Nami and dragged them to a window on the opposite side of the house, "I'm sorry Nami, but I'm not going." Another knock was heard coming from the door," You need to escape here. I'll be fine."

The older sister grabbed her younger sister and pulled her into a tight hug. They stayed there until another knock sounded at the door. The strength of it implied that they were getting impatient.

"Now, go!" She forcefully whispered as she walked towards the door leaving the cook and navigator.

"Nami-san, c'mon." Sanji told her as he silently slid the window open and slipped out. He then assisted Nami.

Before they ran off Nami looked back through the open window and saw her sister calmly speaking to the mermen. She felt a sense pride at how calm and collected Nojiko was communicating. Even after destroying the town and having her sister become practically a slave, Nojiko still could control herself when she spoke to them. If Nami had been in her shoes she would've no doubt flipped out on them.

That was the difference between the two siblings.

The two Strawhats continued to scurry away from the destroyed town. Nami felt a great deal of guilt and sadness as they finally made it out of the ruins. She was going to figure out what had happened and fix it. Something had to of happened on that island after the giant wave hit. She just needed to figure out what.

"Wait, how are we going to leave?" The navigator suddenly asked Sanji, "We don't have a boat."

The blond cook continued running however, "Actually, there's a boat over there." He said pointing at a large row boat, "Mine to be more precise."

"When did you get a boat like that?" The redhead asked.

"Well, I think I arrived here in it, Nami-san." It was clear he was just as lost as she was. The navigator decided to just go with it instead of asking more questions.

Nami hopped into the roomy rowboat as Sanji pushed it off of the beach. He then jumped into it aswell.

The two then sailed off with the plan to find their crew mates and fix everything that was happening . . . somehow.

 **Usopp**

Usopp silently stared at the red haired pirate he had heard so much about from Luffy. He obviously noticed many things wrong with the scene he was seeing.

First off, the thing that stood out most to the sniper, this guy had Luffy's hat. Sure, there were probably billions of straw hats, but he would recognise Luffy's anywhere. The kid wore it day in and day out after all.

Secondly, he distinctly remembered Rayleigh mentioning how Shanks had lost his left arm, yet here it was still obviously attached to him.

The sniper just couldn't contain himself anymore.

"What the hell is going on!?"

Everyone in the bar that was the least bit conscious just stared at him in confusion and surprise. Some even humor. Why were they just watching him? Why was he even here with them? If it was under different circumstances he'd be balling his eyes out while hugging his dad to death, but nothing was making any sense at all! Where was everyone?!

And why did Red-Haired Shanks have Luffy's straw hat?!

He felt like asking, but the older man beat him to talking, "Yasopp, when we got your kid from Syrup Island I hadn't expected him to be so loud in the morning." he complained as he rubbed his head in a soothing manner.

"Wait, when did you get me from Syrup Island?" Usopp asked in surprise. That had never happened.

The others looked at him again in confusion, " A couple months ago . . . do you not remember?"

He would have remembered it if it was that long ago and he had been with them the whole time. The question was how could they think he could forget something such as that?

"It was after Kuro, captain of the Black Cat pirates, attacked Syrup village. I got the news and requested we turn back and try to save as many people as we could manage. That was the village I had met your mother after all." Yasopp said with a sad smile, "When we got there we found the village had been completely pillaged and there weren't . . ."

Yasopp looked down at the ground looking as though he was mentally punishing himself. Shanks must've noticed because he walked up behind him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder as he continued for him, "We had found you on the beach. It seemed you were the only one out of the whole village who managed to escape."

Usopp just stared ahead seemingly unseeing. That meant Kaya had . . . and . . . the Usopp Pirates . . . all the towns people . . .

Usopp suddenly felt light headed. He clasped his face and wobbled back and forth slightly. He felt Yasopp and Shanks trying to steady him, but to no avail.

The sniper fell forward and landed with a thud on the wooden floor.

 **Nami** **and** **Sanji**

The two sat in the small rowboat together. Nami fingered the unchanged tattoo on her arm of Arlong's emblem. How she hated the fact that it was back somehow. It just showed that whatever was going on forced her into being marked once again by the sick merman.

Sanji watched as she did so. He felt sick with himself for not being able to do anything for his beloved Nami~swan. She had been through so much since that giant wave hit that island. Even before then! She was the one who was holding Luffy when Chopper found that he was . . .

That didn't matter at the moment. As much as he hated thinking that, it was the truth. Everything was different right now and focusing on only one person, that being Luffy, wouldn't help them the least bit. They needed to find everyone. Sanji only hoped that Robin-chan was okay . . . the others too.

"You guys are quite surprising!" Sanji suddenly hear behind him. That definitely wasn't Nami-san's voice. It was far too high pitched. Plus, Nami-san was right in front of him, not behind him.

Nami was caught off guard just as much as Sanji. She quickly snapped out of her self pity and worry for everyone else and jumped to see who the hell said that.

The two Straws Hats got ready to attack whoever it was, but was met with something far different than they expected. Or someone to be more accurate.

A little girl laid lazily at the end of the boat. She had her head resting on her arms like a pillow with her feet crossed and resting at the brim of the boat. She had bright pink long hair and dark brown eyes. Her outfit was a simple white T-shirt with black suspenders.

"Who . . . are you?!" Nami screeched at the sudden appearance of this stranger.

"How the hell did you get on this ship?!" Sanji followed.

The girl sat up and smiled at the two. Then she bowed her head politely and introduced herself, "I'm Janus . . . and I already know who you are, so you don't have to introduce yourselves."

Sanji and Nami stood dumbfounded. How did this little girl get on the rowboat undetected and know who they are with them not even knowing she was there nor who or what she was?

"Okay, why are you here?" Nami asked unnervingly. She didn't know what it was about this little girl. She seemed just like any other little girl. An adorable little piece of cuteness. But, there was an aura around her that said otherwise.

The pink haired girl's smile broadened slightly, "You should know. You're the ones who called me . . . to an extent."

That completely confused the two Strawhats. They had done no such thing. This girl just suddenly appeared out of nowhere interrupting all thoughts they were having and replacing their confusion with . . .even more confusion.

"Like I said . . . I am Janus and I am a devil fruit user. I ate the Henko Henko no mi. I can change what I see fit. Although usually it's the same thing that I change." Janus said clearly expecting them to understand precisely what she was meaning.

Nami and Sanji, however, had no idea what was happening. The word "change" had caught their attention however. Everything had been so strange and different since they first woke up and honestly they were getting pretty sick and tired of it all.

"Wait a minute." Nami began thinking over what she said a bit, "What is it you changed exactly?" She asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

The little girl looked intrigued about the question. It was a look that sent silent chills once again down the cooks spine. It was a look that said she had hoped they'd ask and that she was completely prepared to share the answer and possibly more.

"You . . . Nami." She said pointing at the navigator, "Do you remember your captain 'dying'?"

Nami flinched at that question. She had hoped that it was perhaps a dream since Luffy was nowhere to be seen. She hoped that Luffy was still alive and kicking, but she wasn't sure what to think with everything the way it was.

The navigator gave a hesitant nod that caught the cooks attention. Sanji wasn't 100% sure what had happened on that beach. He remembered Nami-san holding Luffy who looked to be in bad shape while they fought off that Fleet Commander. Then Chopper gave the news that sent Zoro into a frenzy of his own. Sanji had a bad feeling about everything that was going on.

"Well, it's safe to say that he is very much alive currently." She said with an upbeat tone, "Although he may not be the Luffy-kun you know him as."

Nami and Sanji felt relief flood through them. Nami so much so that she sat back down on one of the three benches inside of the small rowboat. Sanji however focused on the second part of what she said as well as the first.

"What do you mean exactly by that second part?" He asked suspiciously. He knew there was a catch. There always was a catch.

Surprisingly the little girl's smile faded at the question and was replaced by a rather solemn look, "You see, the way my Devil Fruit operates is that I can change an aspect of someone's life to prevent something that would have happened later on in their life. However, as a side effect there is the chance that their lives will be completely different."

Janus studied them for several seconds after that attempting at seeing the gears turning in their head.

"It is quite a spectacular game, and what I meant by that you two were surprising was that no one has ever gotten this far. They usually give up as soon as their met with one of the more drastic changes, such as say the fact that your entire village was destroyed." She motioned toward the stunned Nami, "Or that your floating restaurant, The Baratie, was taken by Don Krieg after he killed several of your fellow cooks including-"

"What!?" Sanji suddenly screamed, "You don't mean that . . . he . . . they can't be!" The look on the girl's face said it all though. One of his worst fear since waking up had come true. The Baratie was gone, many of his fellow cooks were dead as well as . . . Zeff.

Sanji felt himself fall backwards onto the same bench as Nami who was staring at him with tears in her eyes. The cook was too stunned to weep. Denial and acceptance were bitches when they worked together.

The pink haired girl sighed sounding incredibly older than she appeared, "The way the game works is actually pretty simple if you don't think about it." She said as she put the smile back on her face, "You see, this game takes place in a very different world than your own."

The two mourning Strawhats looked up at her questionably.

"This is the world where Luffy-kun never met Red-Haired Shanks and never went out to sea to become Pirate King."

* * *

 **Dun dun duuuun!**

 **I'm excited to keep writing this. It's getting past the boring part and going into the juicy stuff:)**

 **Please leave your reviews and ideas. Like I said, they're what keep me writing and I always take into consideration ideas unless they take the story to a completely different topic than I intend.**

 **Next chapter already in the works!**


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